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What the Paul Ryan VP pick means for Obama

Obama has viewed Ryan as one of the GOP’s most formidable thinkers. | AP Photos

“This year isn’t Florida, Florida, Florida,” Eddie Vale, a union-affiliated Democratic operative who pushed for health care reform, wrote in an email. “As we’ve seen in special elections, this plan to end Medicare polls horribly EVERYWHERE.”

He summed up the Democratic line of attack this way: “The Ryan plan perfectly frames Romney’s world and vision. Huge giveaways to the rich while slashing help for the middle class. The destruction Romney and Bain wreaked would be thrust upon all of America by the Romney/Ryan plan.”

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3. Hello, Kenosha! Obama won Wisconsin by 14 points four years ago, and won Ryan’s southeastern district by four points. But the polls have been tightening, with Romney creeping to within five or six points in one recent survey — and Ryan could move the dial even more. It’s not the reason why he was selected, but Boston clearly believes he can have more of an impact on his state than Rubio could have had in Florida.

4. Ryan is the GOP’s Obama. Sorta. He’s young, works out like the fitness instructor he once was, debates rather than berates, and devours CBO reports like other people read People. Apart from tickling conservatives, he projects integrity and willingness to flout the orthodoxies of politics for a greater good — in this case deficit reduction. And, like Obama, he can drop the professor shtick — smile that smile — and make the ladies at the senior center swoon. He’s even got a few bipartisan crossover moves, like POTUS, having bucked his party by backing a gay and lesbian anti-discrimination law.

Which raises the next point…

5. Guess who supported the auto bailout? Mr. No. 2, that’s who. The Obama campaign has hammered Romney for suggesting that Detroit and parts suppliers — scattered across the industrialized Midwest, including Wisconsin — should have been forced into a structured bankruptcy that would have allowed them to re-organize. Ryan backed Obama, citing looming factory layoffs in his district. That makes a sore point for Romney even sorer.

6. Guess who doesn’t like Romneycare? In an interview with C-SPAN two years ago, Ryan was asked whether he liked the Massachusetts health care mandate, passed by his new boss. “No — not, well — actually, I’m not a fan of the system. … Costs are getting out of control, premiums are increasing in Massachusetts, and now you have a bureaucracy that is having to put all these cost controls, and rationing on the system.” What’s the first question Ryan will be asked in a vice presidential debate?

This will be harder for Democrats to exploit simply because Romney’s public position, more or less, is in line with Ryan’s — he doesn’t like mandates now either. But it’s one more reason why the GOP ticket won’t be able to use Obamacare as much as they otherwise might — the most unpopular big ticket item of Obama’s presidency in the fall.

7. He widens the gender gap. This is one Ryan factor that has gotten precious little scrutiny. He is anti-abortion rights, but hasn’t been in-your-face about it — and wasn’t at the head of the line, bashing Planned Parenthood, which has a long history in his home state. But he voted, along with almost all of his GOP colleagues in the House, against Obama’s Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act — and that will almost certainly be used against the GOP ticket.

8. Ryan: Not so much with the I-worked-in-the-private sector. As POLITICO’s Jonathan Martin pointed out, Ryan is a public paycheck guy with little significant business-world experience. Plus he’s spent 14 years in the most unpopular institution in American public life, the U.S. House of Representatives.

The democrats are celebrating tonight. This pick gurantees a OBAMA/BIDEN victory. NO sane person under the age of 55 will vote for these bozos once they learn the specifics about the paul ryan budget. It will be FRONT AND CENTER.. NEITHER of these two bozos have foreign policy experience. Obama and Biden will wipe the floor with them in debates. Paul Ryan is a part of that 11% approval rating from congress. He is a creature from Washington who voted lockstep with Bush and Co for the two tax cuts, 2 wars, medicare part D which drove our deficits thru the roof. Now he pretends he is the fiscal policy wonk who cries about how OBAMA and the DEMS are running up the deficits. HAHAHAH Yeah this is going to be fun.

.And lastly the BIG KAHUNA ENDING MEDICARE/MEDICAID AS WE KNOW IT with the INFAMOUS PAUL RYAN BUDGET. ROMNEY and RYAN will be basically telling the voters around the country, those under 55 that you will given a voucher when you turn 65 to pay for your healthcare and anything it does't cover you will have to come out your pocket which will be close to 6,500. Oh, and also the money we save we will be giving massive tax cuts to the rich. I can't wait to see the polls in Florida, Pennsylvania, OHIO from Senior Citizens and those under 55. Man you thought Obama had huge lead on Romney, watch it goes double digit. Folks who don't know ryan are about to get introduced OBAMA STYLE. hahahahahha

Ryan thinks he is ready for the onlsalught. Oh, what Obama has done to Romney is the appetizer, the real meal is about to begin and Ryan will be the MAIN COURSE.

haha! Paul Ryan is younger and better looking than Obama, and Ryan could whoop him in a fight. Not necessarily what an intelligent voter looks for in a VP candidate, but with all the idiot tabloit-reading dolts in this country, Ryan is a great pick! But on a deadly serious note, let's get this clown Obama out of office and return basic freedom to the people of this country!

haha! Paul Ryan is younger and better looking than Obama, and Ryan could whoop him in a fight. Not necessarily what an intelligent voter looks for in a VP candidate, but with all the idiot tabloit-reading dolts in this country, Ryan is a great pick! But on a deadly serious note, let's get this clown Obama out of office and return basic freedom to the people of this country!

haha! Paul Ryan is younger and better looking than Obama, and Ryan could whoop him in a fight. Not necessarily what an intelligent voter looks for in a VP candidate, but with all the idiot tabloit-reading dolts in this country, Ryan is a great pick! But on a deadly serious note, let's get this clown Obama out of office and return basic freedom to the people of this country!

haha! Paul Ryan is younger and better looking than Obama, and Ryan could whoop him in a fight. Not necessarily what an intelligent voter looks for in a VP candidate, but with all the idiot tabloit-reading dolts in this country, Ryan is a great pick! But on a deadly serious note, let's get this clown Obama out of office and return basic freedom to the people of this country!

You Republicans are smoking crack if you think Ryan is going to help Willard. He brings a lot of baggage & the Obama re-election team will beat him like a brass drum. What were they thinking? He's no Sara Palin, but he is certainly no Joe Biden. When all is said and done Obama will win by a landslide.

Now that Romney has mollified his base, it will be very difficult for this ticket to reach out to anyone else. In the battle for the middle class, Ryan offers nothing but big tax cuts to those who don't need them, and huge benefit cuts to everyone else. Once the Dems put his budget under the microscope, it will sizzlle and die like an ant under a hot magnifying glass. It just won't stand up to scrutiny.

"Obama has been able to deflect some of Romney’s attacks on the ballooning federal deficit by pointing to his opponent’s own struggles to trim spending in Massachusetts. That’s less of an option with Ryan, the clean-cut poster boy for attacking the deficit."

Would this be Ryan, the "clean-cut poster boy" for the deficit-busting Bush tax cuts, the deficit-busting Iraq War and the deficit-busting Medicare Part D?

When you put Ryan and his budget front and center, you're going to have a hard time explaining why, like Obama recently stated, this isn't simply Robin-Hood-in-reverse. "Under Romney-Ryan, Medicare becomes Coupon Care." The attack ads write themselves. In this respect, I think his choice is a disaster for Romney.

That said, I think, as a liberal/progressive, that Ryan is a very attractive face for their party. He's articulate, handsome, serious in demeanor (I would argue not in substance, though), and non-threatening. I would actually listen to what he has to say versus turning the channel, as I do with Palin, Gingrich, Santorum, etc. I also get the feeling that Ryan isn't a hot-headed reactionary, throwing rhetorical bombs just to get a reaction from my side. He does seem to sincerely believe in his positions, and I don't sense that he's in the game just to enrich himself. After almost four years of Tea Party lunacy, I am thrilled to see the Republicans nominate someone who is articulate, intelligent, and sincere, even if I completely disagree with him. At least you can have a frank discussion of issues with someone like that.

So...I'm personally opposed to almost every position Ryan proposes, and I think his nomination will be a tough slog for the ticket. But I advise my liberal/progressive pals to skip the high-fives and woo hoos. Ryan will be, I expect, a personally appealing choice for many voters, and oftentimes this ends up being more important than issues.

Wow. This was not a smart pick for Romney...and I'm not just saying that as someone who supports the President. Until the Romney/Ryan website went up, I seriously thought it was a head fake for Rubio, who would have been a much better choice politically.

The attack ads write themselves...Ryan didn't just take a series of controversial votes in Congress, he personally authored the most radical far-right budget in modern history. Polls show as many as 80% of voters oppose privatizing Medicare. He voted against equal pay for women. He is a huge fan of the anti-Christian Russian philosopher Ayn Rand. The Catholic Church has spoken out against his policies. The list goes on...